November 13, 2007

Contact and Testosterone

So the Mooseheads had a really interesting game on Sunday night. We won 4-1 in what was by far and away the roughest game we’ve played. We even experienced our first fight (although the ref called it “roughing” so no one got suspended) and as the game went along, it got chippier and chippier. The coaches were actually pretty happy that we ran out of time and couldn’t play the last two minutes or so.

We’ve been coaching the boys to use appropriate body contact to separate the man from the puck right from the beginning of the game. This was the first time they actually listened. But it seems like the earlier in the game the contact starts, the more time there is available for bodychecking to degrade into really rough play.

The strange thing is that I grew up in Nepean and played two years of house league midget and I honestly do not remember a single fight. When I played, if you got checked hard, you checked hard back. But it didn’t degrade to the point of fights or stickwork.

Coaching Midget is definitely a different experience. Lots more testosterone to deal with.